Finding nothing that really interests us at Surfers Paradise, we decided on booking a day trip to the nearby city of Brisbane. It was just an hour away and booking a tour was easy and affordable enough via Klook. We simply fired up the app on our phone, checked out the available tours, decided on the Grand Brisbane Tour, and was whisked off to Brisbane with no fuss.

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A van was supposed to pick us up right in front of our hotel, but the tour company affiliated with Klook requested that we rendezvous on another hotel about five minutes by foot from where we were. It was no biggie so off we went to the hotel on the morning of our second to the last day in Australia.

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THE SPACIOUS MINI-BUS WE USED TO TOUR BRISBANE

A chirpy fellow greeted us and we were soon zooming off across the wide highways of Gold Coast. The guy was quite impressive, shuffling between English and Japanese—for the benefit of our Japanese companions—as we passed points of interests en route to Brisbane. We were dropped at bus depot, then transferred to a larger van—or rather a mini-bus—picking up a few more tour participants before the tour proper commenced.

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What to do with five days at Gold Coasts’ Surfers Paradise? A lot, if you’re into surfing, shopping, and theme parks. But we’re totally not into surfing, shopping, and theme parks. So, I was wondering myself why I booked a total of five long days here instead of stretching our stay for a day or more at Byron Bay—a town which we feel a deeper connection with.

SURFERS PARADISE FROM OUR BALCONY AT RHAPSODY HOTEL

Our first and second day at Surfers Paradise was spent on a forced staycation at the Rhapsody Hotel. Incessant rain kept us in, but I’m not complaining. With friends in tow, a cache of grocery food to cook, and plenty of alcohol, we were more than happy to stay cooped up.

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It was way past midnight when we arrived at Surfers Paradise in Gold Coast. A few hours ago, we’re baby sitting at G’s crib in Ballina, trying extremely hard to put L to sleep at their living room sofa, and now we’re on a totally different kind of living room, one seventeen stories up from the street, with a full view of the raging pacific from a floor to ceiling window. It was swanky as heck, but we miss L.

Similar to our previous lodging, Byron Bay Hotel and Apartments, we had to check ourselves in by following the email instructions given by Rhapsody Resort—input a code on a deposit box outside the lobby, take our key, access the lobby, then our room. Problem was we had a hard time finding the said box. It turned out we were at the wrong entrance, lol.

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“It looks like a plush toy,” I told C as we stood transfixed staring at an actual real live koala inside a pen. Clinging on a vertical tree branch and slowly gnawing on eucalyptus leaves, the furry little creature unhurriedly moved to a more comfortable position. Being nocturnal animals, most of its neighbors were asleep, also clinging to tree branches as they do. It’s the first time I’ve actually seen a koala in real life and it’s as cute and cuddly as a, well, a plush koala toy.

FLYING IN FROM SYDNEY TO GOLD COAST

Coming from a one-hour flight from Sydney, we arrived at the Gold Coast International Airport at around noon. The heat was unbearable as we navigated its almost empty roadways. We’re here to see Byron Bay, but before that, we took a quick detour to Currumbin—G of Pinay Travel Junkie apparently booked us to see them kangaroos and koalas.

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